The second phase from 540/541 to 553 featured a Gothic revival under Totila, which was suppressed only after a long struggle by the Byzantine general Narses, who also repelled an invasion in 554 by the Franks and Alamanni.

It was seen as a pyrrhic victory for the Byzantines, who found themselves incapable of resisting an invasion by the Lombards in 568, which resulted in Constantinople permanently losing control over large parts of the Italian peninsula.

Although Odoacer recognised the nominal suzerainty of the Byzantine emperor, Zeno, his independent policies and increasing strength made him a threat in the eyes of Constantinople.

To provide a buffer, the Ostrogoths, under their leader, Theodoric the Great, were settled as foederati (allies) of the empire in the western Balkans, but unrest continued.

[1] This arrangement was scrupulously observed by Theodoric; there was continuity in civil administration, which was staffed exclusively by Romans, and legislation remained the preserve of the emperor.

[5] With the ascension of Emperor Justin I, the end of the Acacian schism between the Eastern and Western churches, and the return of ecclesiastical unity within the East, several members of the Italian senatorial aristocracy began to favour closer ties to Constantinople to balance Gothic power.

Theodoric was succeeded by his 10-year-old grandson Athalaric in August 526, with his mother, Amalasuntha, as regent; she had received a Roman education and began a rapprochement with the Senate and the Empire.

[6] In 533, using a dynastic dispute as a pretext, Justinian sent his most talented general, Belisarius, to recover the North African provinces held by the Vandals.

The Vandalic War produced an unexpectedly swift and decisive victory for the Byzantine Empire and encouraged Justinian in his ambition to recover the rest of the lost western provinces.

[6] Justinian made unsuccessful attempts through his agents to save Amalasuntha's life, and her death gave him a casus belli to go to war with the Goths.

The Gothic general, Gripas, abandoned Salona, which he had only recently occupied, because of the ruined state of its fortifications and the pro-Roman stance of its citizens, withdrawing to the north.

The two armies encamped separately and shortly afterwards, Narses, convinced that the town was unassailable and well supplied, broke camp and departed for Ariminum.

During the sieges, a large Frankish army under King Theudebert I crossed the Alps and came upon the Goths and the Byzantines encamped on the two banks of the Po.

Goths readily accepted the terms, but Belisarius, judging this to be a betrayal of all he had striven to achieve, refused to sign even though his generals disagreed with him.

Soon after Belisarius' breach of faith towards them became apparent, the Goths, at the suggestion of Uraias, chose Ildibad as their new king and he re-established Gothic control over Venetia and Liguria.

The Roman generals, John, Bessas, and Cyprian, marched to its relief but, at the Battle of Mucellium, their numerically superior forces were defeated.

He also tried to win over the Italian population, exemplified by Totila's behaviour during the Siege of Naples, where he allowed the city to surrender on terms in 543 and displayed, in the words of J.

[41] He successfully reoccupied much of southern Italy, but, according to Procopius, he was starved of supplies and reinforcements by a jealous Justinian and so felt unable to march to Rome's relief.

Procopius describes famine during the siege, in which the ordinary Romans, who were not rich enough to buy grain from the military, were reduced to eating bran, nettles, dogs, mice and finally "each other's dung".

[42] Pope Vigilius, who had fled to the safety of Syracuse, sent a flotilla of grain ships, but Totila's navy intercepted them near the mouth of the Tiber and captured them.

Afterwards, his subordinate Isaakes, ordered to remain in the city of Portus, heard of his early successes and took a cavalry force to attack the Gothic stockade, eager to share the glory.

[44] After more than a year Totila finally entered Rome on 17 December 546,[43] when his men scaled the walls at night and opened the Porta Asinaria.

[45] On Belisarius' absence during the reoccupation of Rome by the Goths, there are two opposing accounts: Procopius states that, upon discovering his mistake regarding Portus, he was overcome with a bout of depression and severe sickness which nearly resulted in his death.

[46] Jordanes, on the other hand, claims that he was recalled to Rome due to the death of the empress Theodora, and cites his absence as having emboldened Totila to recapture the city.

[47] Belisarius successfully reoccupied Rome four months later in the spring of 547 and hastily rebuilt the demolished sections of wall by piling up the loose stones "one on top of the other, regardless of order".

The following spring, Narses led this Byzantine army around the coast of the Adriatic to Ancona and then turned inland, intending to march down the via Flaminia to Rome.

Finding himself considerably outnumbered, Totila ostensibly entered into negotiations while planning a surprise attack, but Narses was not fooled by the ruse and deployed his army in a strong defensive position.

The Goths holding Rome capitulated and, at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in October 553, Narses defeated Teias and the last remnants of the Gothic army in Italy.

[53] The Gothic War is often viewed as a pyrrhic victory, which drained the Byzantine Empire of resources that might have been employed against more serious threats in western Asia and the Balkans.

Byzantine influence persisted in some coastal areas of southern Italy until the late 11th century, while the interior was ruled by Lombard dukes based at Benevento and later also at Salerno and Capua.